The White Cross route and a ride on the rail bike in Chauvigny

Start at the Market Square, near the bandstand.

(S/E) Head north towards the town hall. Cross Rue du Marché and turn left (towards the Vienne). At the roundabout, go straight ahead.

(1) Cross the bridge over the Vienne. Downstream, particularly when the water level is low, note the remains of the piers of the old bridge destroyed in the early 19th century. Continue straight on along the Route de Poitiers, skirting the cemetery, and cross the road in front of the care home.

(2) At the next junction, turn left twice and follow Rue des Pignons Blancs. Then take the path on the left at the car park (opposite Rue des Bois Galants). When you reach No. 35, take the path on the left. It is a small lane lined with hedges. After a short slope (on a bend) and a few steps, you will reach Vélorail.

(3) Turn right and follow the Vélorail tracks.
Take care and keep well to the side to allow Vélorail users to pass.
Take the viaduct over the Vienne. The next bridge crosses the Route de Lussac (D749); continue along the Vélorail.

(4) Just before the next bridge (the green one crossing the Route de Montmorillon), leave the Vélorail via the path that descends to the right onto the Route de Montmorillon. Cross it and immediately turn left onto the Route des Rocs (which is almost directly opposite the path you have just left). This is a road that curves upwards.

At the roundabout, turn left onto Rue de la Talbatière. At the cross (dating from 1876), take the footbridge that crosses over the cycle path. Go down the steps in front of you, then take Rue de la Maison Rouge. Cross Rue Alfred Vallat on the right-hand side and you’ll arrive at Place du Bourg (Saint-Pierre-les-Eglises war memorial).

Then turn right. After crossing Rue du Bas Bourg on the left, turn left into Rue de la Paix (public baths built in 1934). At the next junction, turn left onto Rue Vassalour. Cross Route des Frères Caille on your right. Then cross the square diagonally to the right until you reach the bandstand. This will bring you back to the starting car park (S/E).

On the market square, you will find public toilets.

After (1):

When you reach the cemetery, you can enter. A monument was erected in 1915 to create a place of remembrance for families whose dead had not been found. It was converted into a War Memorial after the war, bearing the names of all the fallen soldiers.

When you reach the Super U, on the left, below, the White Cross quarry, abandoned at the end of the 19th century, contains numerous traces of extraction by pickaxe. The supermarket is built on a sand pit. A project dating from 1882 (which never came to fruition) planned to link the quarry and the sand pit via a tunnel dug beneath the road. A railway line was to run through it to reach the stone-cutting sites near the station.

After (4):

When you are in the Place du Bourg, you can see the War Memorial for the commune of St Pierre les Eglises.

I invite you to visit the railbike website for full details.

In the heart of the medieval town, in the upper town, you can discover:

- The Saint Pierre Collegiate Church, a jewel of Romanesque art.

- The ‘Giants of the Sky’ show at the Château des Evèques.

- Harcourt Castle, the Tour de Flins, Montléon Castle and the Gouzon keep.